black americans in ostensibly “free states” were then very vulnerable to kidnapping and trafficking to slave states for sale, where they were effectively disappeared since, as slaves, they had no due process and could not prove their freedom

Ivy League admit rates are way down over the last 20 years, because the number of applicants has skyrocketed. Mostly due to digitization and access (the Common App). Elites have chosen to explain their children’s failures to succeed in this larger pool by scapegoating minorities and blaming DEI tho

It's like decades ago, when racist whites filled swimming pools with concrete, or closed down rec centers entirely, rather than integrate them. Hurting themselves as much as anyone, just to prevent Black people from having access to any public good. And huge % of whites were OK with that!

If I block you, you have the exact level of access you had to me in 1998.

I’m upstate NY and feel pretty firmly Northeast when it comes to weather and gardens. Downstate might feel differently tho?

I think the east coast also needs a mid-Atlantic. For garden purposes, I consider the Northeast to be New England+NY+PA. Cold winters are our defining trait